Tamil Nadu’s 16th Legislative Assembly will meet for its first session on May 11 at 10 am. The session will take place in Kalaivanar Arangam, where all the newly elected MLAs will take oath. The Assembly will then go on to elect the Speaker and Deputy Speaker on May 12.
Tamil Nadu elected the members of its 16th Legislative Assembly on April 6. The DMK and its allies garnered 159 seats and formed the government. MK Stalin and his council of ministers were sworn in on Friday by the Governor of Tamil Nadu.
The AIADMK alliance, meanwhile, secured 75 seats in the elections and lost power. The new set of 234 MLAs will now meet at Kalaivanar Arangam at 10 am on May 11 and take their oath. The Assembly will then meet the next day to elect a Speaker and a Deputy Speaker.
Meanwhile, there has been no consensus on who will be the Leader of Opposition in the Assembly for the next five years. On Friday, the AIADMK had called for a meeting of all the newly elected MLAs. Commotions were reported at the party headquarters and at the memorial of the former Chief Minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa at the Marina over who will get to assume the role of Leader of Opposition. Supporters of AIADMK coordinator O Panneerselvam and Edappadi K Palaniswami raised slogans and engaged in minor arguments on the sidelines of Friday’s meeting. A decision is therefore yet to be taken on the post.
On the other hand, MK Stalin, the new Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, signed five important orders, minutes after he took oath as the state’s head. He ordered that all rice ration card holders be provided a financial assistance of Rs 4,000 in two instalments in an attempt to provide relief from the onslaught of COVID-19 in the state. He also announced a reduction of Aavin milk prices by Rs 3 per litre, and free travel in government buses for women.